Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto

Anonymous sale, London, Replica Shoes ’s, 5 July 2012, lot 175 (as attributed to Canaletto);

With Charles Beddington Ltd, London, 2013 (as Canaletto);

Acquired subsequently by the present owner.

Aix-en-Provence, Caumont Centre d'Art, Canaletto. Rome, Londres, Venise. Le triomphe de la lumière, 6 May – 13 September 2015, no. 47 (as Canaletto).

B.A. Kowalczyck, Canaletto. Rome, Londres, Venise. Le triomphe de la lumière, B.A. Kowalczyck (ed.), exh. cat., Aix-en-Provence 2015, pp. 195–97, no. 47, reproduced in colour (as Canaletto).

Datable to Canaletto's maturity, this atmospheric capriccio of the Venetian lagoon was painted by the artist upon his return to Venice following his prolonged sojourn in England. It belongs to a group of ten known imaginary landscapes of comparable dimensions executed during the final decade of his activity. In these late capricci, Canaletto departs from the lucid topographical precision that had defined his earlier vedute and adopts a more expressive and dramatic pictorial language. Architecture and landscape are arranged with greater imaginative freedom, while softened contours, heightened tonal contrasts, and a new sensitivity to changing light effects infuse the scenes with a poetic and contemplative mood.

Including the present work, six of these views formed the basis of Fabio Berardi's (1736–1788) engravings Vedute sei di Avanzi rovinosi di fabbriche antiche, published by Giuseppe Wagner (1706–1786).¹ The remainder have been identified as a pair of canvases in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (inv. nos 3353 and 3354),² and another pair in a private collection, Milan.³ The last painting of the group, supposedly the pendant to the present work, remains lost and is only known through its engraving.⁴

A preparatory drawing for this composition, with compositional differences in the architecture, setting and staffage, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.⁵

¹ See for example the impression in the British Museum, London; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1951-0714-101

² Aix-en-Provence 2015, pp. 190–93, no. 45, reproduced in colour.

³ W.G. Constable, Canaletto: Giovanni Antonio Canal 1697–1768, J.G. Links (ed.), Oxford 1989, vol. I, reproduced plates 89 and 90, and vol. II, pp. 451–52 and 455, nos 484 and 493.

⁴ See for example the impression in the British Museum, London; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1951-0714-96

⁵ Inv. no. CAI.423; pen, ink and wash; 25.7 x 39.1 cm.; https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O148464/an-imaginary-composition-a-village-drawing-canaletto-giovanni-antonio/